The San Gabriel Valley Governance Council attended its orientation meeting this week to prepare it for leading transit services and improvements in the San Gabriel Valley.

Council Selects April 1 For First Public Meeting

Newly appointed governance council members learned about bus service sector governance policies and by-laws, as well as MTA Ethics and Codes of Conduct. They also received overviews of MTA transit services and service sectors, Brown Act and Consent Decree requirements. All of this information is required to orient members to their roles and responsibilities on the council.

Governance councils will oversee the planning and implementation of bus service within their service sector area. The councils will be responsible for, among other things, strengthening customer service, conducting public hearings for sector bus line changes and implementing those service changes.

The council, consisting of several community representatives, also selected a date for it’s first public meeting, where members of the community can provide input into council actions. It will take place on Tuesday, April 1 at 5 p.m. at a location to be announced at a later date. Regular governance council meetings will take place the first Tuesday of every month at 5 p.m.

The nine-member governance council includes two newly appointed members: Dave Spence and Rosie Vasquez. Other members include Councilman Harry Baldwin of San Gabriel, representing the cities of San Gabriel and Rosemead, Councilman Sid Tyler of Pasadena, representing Pasadena,

La Canada-Flintridge and Sierra Madre, Mayor Emile Bayle of San Marino, representing San Marino, Alhambra and South Pasadena, Councilwoman Sharon Martinez of Monterey Park, representing Monterey Park and Montebello, and Mayor Bart Doyle of Sierra Madre, representing all the other cities in the San Gabriel Valley.

The San Gabriel Valley Council of Government’s (SGVCOG) will nominate two additional members, who will be non-elected officials to serve on the governance council.

Fivecommunity-based service sectors were created last year to localize control of bus operations and improve the quality of service to MTA transit customers. They are: The Metro San Gabriel Valley Service Sector, The Gateway Cities Service Sector, The Metro Central/Westside Service Sector, the Metro San Fernando Valley Service Sector and the Metro South Bay Service Sector.